Metallica’s Lars Ulrich Expects New Album to See an Early 2014 Release

Although the news broke yesterday that Metallica were set to begin work in earnest on a new album in September, drummer Lars Ulrich doesn't want fans to get too anxious about the upcoming release. The Metallica percussionist is "realistically" expecting the band's 10th album to hit stores in early 2014.

Metallica have been incredibly busy as of late, putting together the massive, two-day Orion Music + More Festival, which the band plans to bring back next year, and the working on the Metallica 3D concert film.

Ulrich took part in an interview with the Vancouver, Canada, radio station 99.3 'The Fox,' revealing Metallica's progression towards making their next record. "I wouldn't use the word 'close,' says Ulrich. "I mean, obviously, in the context of, say, the age of planet Earth, we're pretty close. But in the context of, say, other things, there may be one or two football seasons, or one or two baseball seasons, or one or two hockey seasons… We've gotta do this movie, and we're gonna get back to writing when we've done this movie."

He continues, "I would say late '13 or early '14. It's difficult to imagine… I think even late '13 may be a bit optimistic. I would say hopefully we can realistically get a record out probably about a year and half from now, so maybe early '14."

Metallica's 3D film will be much more than just a concert experience. The concert footage will be shot on Aug. 24 - 25 in Vancouver on a giant 140-foot-by-50-foot stage that will showcase "colossal components and striking visual elements spanning Metallica's entire 30-year career," while the accompanying narrative will be filmed afterward. "The rest of the film will be shot the next two or three weeks after the shows in Vancouver, into the middle to the third week of September," the drummer says.

Ulrich continues, "[The film] is a narrative, and the rest of the stuff that goes on outside of the concert is not going to feature members of Metallica… in any way, shape or form. It's a split narrative that kind of runs parallel to the concert."

Listen to Lars Ulrich's full interview with 99.3 'The Fox' in the player below.